The present invention relates to a cartridge type disk apparatus.
In recent years, there has been the tendency for portable word processors and computers to become more compact (and thinner in particular).
Accompanying this, there has been a demand for even thinner magnetic disk apparatus of the cartridge type which can be incorporated into this apparatus.
FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show cartridge type magnetic disk apparatus which are examples of the conventional art.
FIG. 1 shows the status before the magnetic disk cartridge is inserted, and FIG. 2 shows the status where the magnetic disk cartridge is inserted. FIG. 3 is a sectional perspective view taken along the section lines III--III of FIG. 1(A).
Element 12 is a front fascia. Element 13 is a magnetic head carriage, and comprises a lower side magnetic head 14, a head arm 15, an upper side magnetic head 16, and the like.
Element 17 is a motor and Element 18 is a turntable. 19 is a circuit board assembly and is mounted to the bottom surface side of an apparatus 10.
The cartridge holder 20 has support grooves 20a,20b on both sides, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 11, and the lower side is an opening 20c.
Moreover, the reason why the card holder 20 has an opening 20c on its lower surface is because the magnetic disk apparatus 10 can be made thinner by increasing the degree of freedom for the placement of the circuit board and other mechanisms.
In FIG. 1, 21 is a cartridge insertion opening and is positioned at a height H1.
The height dimension of a magnetic disk apparatus 10 is h1.
Element 30 is a disk cartridge that houses the magnetic disk 31.
In the status shown in FIG. 1 for the apparatus 10, the cartridge 30 passes through the insertion hole 21 in the horizontal position, and is inserted in the direction of the arrow X1 and furthermore, is inserted so that both side are supported by the support grooves 20a,20b of the cartridge holder 20.
The leading edge 30a of the cartridge 30 in the direction of insertion passes the magnetic head 14,16 and is inserted to the final position P1 indicated by the double dotted line in FIG. 1. When it is, the cartridge holder 20 is lowered in the direction Z1 that is perpendicular to the direction X1 described above, and sinks so that the cartridge 30 is mounted in the status shown in FIG. 2.
More specifically, the hub at the center of the magnetic disk 31 is mounted on the turntable 18, and the magnetic heads 14,16 are in moving contact with the shutter (indicated by 30c in FIG. 4) and pass through an open opening window (not indicated in the figure) to enter the cartridge and come into contact with the upper surface and the lower surface of the magnetic disk 31.
The magnetic disk 31 is rotated in this status, and the carriage 13 is displaced and the recording and reproduction of information performed. When the cartridge 30 is inserted inside the cartridge holder 20, damage to the magnetic head 14 is caused if the leading edge for insertion of the cartridge 30 contacts the magnetic head 14. Accordingly, it is necessary for the apparatus 10 to be configured so that the cartridge 30 does not strike the magnetic head 14.
Sometimes the disk cartridge is a warped disk cartridge 30A as shown by the double-dotted line in FIG. 3.
When such a disk cartridge 30A is inserted, there is a greater likelihood that it will strike the magnetic head 14. Even in such cases, the cartridge holder 20 has the surface 20d supporting the cartridge, disposed at a dimension al higher than the head surface 14a of the magnetic head 14. This dimension is in the range of several millimeters for the sake of safety. Because of this, the dimension from the bottom surface of the apparatus 10 with the height H1 for the cartridge insertion opening 21 becomes higher by the dimension b1 and the height dimension h1 of the apparatus 10 becomes larger so that there are problems involved in making the apparatus 10 thinner.